Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Nancy Huang
Seattle University
HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION: RESPONSE PAPER #1 2
Introduction
W. E. B. DuBois (1903) stated in his essay, The Talented Tenth that “Education is the
whole system of human training within and without the school house walls, which molds and
develops men” (p. 557). This statement exemplifies the values American higher education was
founded upon. Higher education was established to educate and train young White men into
becoming members of the White elite. As time progressed, the student population became more
diverse in which women and Blacks were given access to higher education. Despite the increase
in diversity, these groups are still marginalized within the American higher education system.
Anderson (n. d.), Brazzell (1992), DuBois (1903), and Washington (1969) all highlight the
purpose in the founding of Black higher education, which is to educate Black men into becoming
part of the Black elite. Although higher education became more accessible to women and Blacks,
these groups are still disenfranchised due to the lack of federal and state support. This ultimately
created obstacles and challenges for Black higher education institutions to sustain and fulfill their
Both Anderson (n. d.) and Brazzell (1992) discuss the establishment of Black higher
education in the post-Emancipation era. In both articles, Anderson (n. d.) and Brazzell (1992)
examine how black colleges were founded while including some of the challenges they faced in
sustaining and maintaining the institution. Anderson (n. d.) highlights the key factors that
contributed to the decline of black colleges. These factors include the lack of support from the
federal and state level, the need to incorporate liberal arts philosophy, and the failure of black
missionary and religious philanthropy. All these hinder the development of black higher
education in the 1900s as institutions experienced difficulties in attaining funding and capital to
HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION: RESPONSE PAPER #1 3
maintain their operations. The establishment of national and regional accrediting agencies also
endangered the preservation and survival of black colleges. The creation of accrediting agencies
gave a fixed definition to the terms “high school,” “college,” and “university.” This categorized
colleges and universities, and forced higher learning to be defined by specific and universal
standards, which added more demands for black colleges to become fully developed institutions
of higher learning.
While Anderson’s (n. d.) article demonstrates the obstacles that black higher education
encountered during their effort to become full-fledged institutions of higher learning, Brazzell
(1992) reveals some of the difficulties that black women colleges faced in their establishment.
Brazzell uses Spelman Seminary to highlight higher education of black women in the late
nineteenth century. For women, their sphere is the home; thus, they were to be trained to be good
wives, mothers, and caretakers. The idea of what the woman’s role is and should be in society
was applied to black women in higher education. For black women, their role “was to lead the
home and the classroom” (Brazzell, 1992, p. 36), which was similar to the expectations of white
women. The need of financial resources to support new curriculums and studies was faced with
difficulties at Spelman. The discussion of what women should and should not study was debated.
Since the woman’s sphere is the home, it was more practical to teach women how to care for
their gardens and provide food for the family. Therefore, education for black women was
focused on training them not only to be better educators, but also better caretakers.
Although both Anderson (n. d.) and Brazzell (1992) detail the problems that early black
higher education institutions faced, Dubois (1903) and Washington (1962) examine some of the
core values of higher education for Blacks. For DuBois (1903), the notion of “the talented tenth”
suggests that the purpose of education for black men is to create leaders to uplift the black race.
HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION: RESPONSE PAPER #1 4
Much of Dubois’s argument focused on the emphasis and integration of liberal arts education in
black colleges. According to Dubois, “Education must not simply teach work – it must teach
Life” (p. 561). Black men must be made into leaders of their own race; and in order to do that,
black higher education need to incorporate liberal studies into the curriculum. Unlike Dubois,
Washington (1969) argued on the need for industrial education in black colleges. According to
Washington it is crucial for Blacks to “learn that being worked meant degradation, while
working means civilization; that all forms of labor are honorable, and all forms of idleness
disgraceful” (p. 9). Compared to Dubois, Washington stresses the importance of integrating
practical elements into higher education. He advocates for the freedmen to utilize the skills they
learned as slaves and put it to use to cultivate themselves in the post-slavery era. For
Washington, industrial education is more important than liberal arts education because it allowed
In these readings on the history of black higher education, it is crucial to note how race
impact the development of today’s institutions of higher learning. The establishment of black
readings provide a different lens to the establishment of higher education while straying away
from the White Eurocentric perspective of higher education history. At the same time, the
founding of black institutions demonstrates the integration of White middle class values into the
curriculum. In order for Blacks to transition from slaves to freedmen, education was necessary as
it offered the opportunity to be taught “White middle-class values and behavior patterns” so that
they can be accepted into White society (Brazzell, 1992, p. 32). Since black colleges served as
spaces for Blacks to gain the knowledge and skills to assimilate into a post-slavery society, the
HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION: RESPONSE PAPER #1 5
emphasis on liberal arts education further exemplifies the values that American higher education
was founded on. For Blacks, higher education was created to provide them with the similar
opportunities that Whites had and to produce members of the Black elites. By discussing how
black higher education was created, it establishes a clearer understanding of how institutions of
higher learning are continuously oppressing those who have been historically disenfranchised.
work with a diverse student population. Having an understanding of how black colleges and
institutions were founded and the challenges they faced since their establishment helps me
recognize the persisting issues existing today around minority serving institutions. Living and
working in the west coast region, I am not familiar with Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCU). However, I am familiar with other types of minority serving institutions. I
support. They are faced with funding constraints due to the lack of accreditation from the
national level. Additionally, like black colleges, community colleges focused on liberal arts
studies in the early years. As time progressed, community colleges shift from liberal studies to
industrial education due to the need for job-training programs to ease unemployment rates. At
black colleges, the debate about whether or not industrial education should be integrated into the
curriculum was a pressing conversation in the late nineteenth century. The liberal arts based
curriculum demonstrates the White values that higher education established on. While black
education was founded to educate, civilize, and uplift the black race, its focus on liberal studies
reinforces that idea that higher education was originally created to produce elite young men. In
HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION: RESPONSE PAPER #1 6
the case of black colleges, it was established to cultivate the black elite.
work. Over and over again, student affairs reiterate the importance of supporting the student
holistically. From Dubois (1903) and Washington’s (1969) argument, I think it is necessary to
provide students the academic support to cultivate their intellectual development. At the same
time, I also believe it is important to create and offer hands-on learning opportunities for
students. In student affairs, we provide resources to help students navigate the institution and
produce opportunities for them to develop personally and professionally. Moreover, the history
of higher education helps us better understand how certain groups were marginalized and
encourages us to be critical of the continual oppression that exists within the system. For me, the
reading informed that even though we are far from the types of marginalization that existed
centuries ago, inequity still persists. Students from historically marginalized groups are faced
with challenges when entering college. Therefore, as student affairs practitioners, we need to be
aware of who we are serving, ask questions, and analyze the intention and effectiveness of our
work. In order to better serve minority students, we need to be conscious of the way the system
References
Anderson, James D. . "Training the Apostles of Liberal Culture: Black Higher Education, 1900-
1935." The History of Higher Education. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 432-56. Print.
Dubois, W. (1903). The Talented Tenth. In The Negro Problem: A Series of Articles by
Representative Negros of Today (pp. 551-561). New York, NY: James Pott & Co.
Washington, B. T. (1969). Industrial Education for the Negro. In The Negro Problem (pp. 9-29).